Does anyone know which chassis is required for the meridian Ruston kit? I know it
If I remember correctly the Meridian Ruston kit uses the Minitrix 0-6-0 chassis.
The modifications involve turning it into a short wheelbase 0-4-0 which involves swapping the middle axle for the front one (the middle wheel set on the chassis is slightly smaller so you'll need to do this to avoid a 'nose in the weeds' effect and cutting the front part of the chassis off. There may be other minor modifications that I've forgotten.
Hope that helps...
Yes, it is the old Minitrix dock tank chassis.
As well as cutting down to an 0-4-0 and swapping the wheel sets you also have to modify the wheel contacts on one side. The other side uses the chassis block to axle connection to collect the power.
To be honest these chassis do not work that well and they tent to ware out quite quickly. The later ones with the brass bearings tend to snap the rear axle drive gear and the motors can be temperamental, some needed more power to get them moving, some working better one way then the other and some that burn out.
These chassis were produced from 1964 to 1997 so any chassis of this type that you find is now over 20 years old, some could be over 50 years old!
Brian is right to make his observations about the Minitrix chassis, but then when the kit was first produced it was the only viable option.
For a more modern alternative Oscar it might be worth looking at some of the small 4 wheel chassis from Japan. One that might work - you would need to check on the wheelbase & wheel diameter - is the Tsugawa TU-7T. The only thing to note thoug is that these have low voltage (3 to 6V) motors so it's a good idea to fit a resistor between the motor and pick ups on one side (150 or 270 ohms will do the job) to keep the magic smoke inside the motor. Tsugawa also do a number of similar small chassis that might do the job if the TU-7T is the wrong size.
As to purchasing one of these I've used an EBay seller "Plaza Japan" so can recommend them n the basis of being a satisfied customer, though bear in mind before it drops on your doormat you'll need to pay import duty (20% iirc) and the fee for Royal Mail/Parcle Force to collect the payment (
I should probably mention I
Simple tip is that perhaps this kit, and the chassis modifications required are not ideal for a beginner.
Perhaps a kit with a better chassis requiring less alterations would be a better choice for a beginner?
But other may not agree.
Brian Meldon
Without them to hand I'm fairly sure that the instructions in the Meridian kit tell tou have to modify the chassis.
Essentially you need to undo a couple of screws to remove the keeper plate. This will release the three axles and (I think) the intermediate gears. I'd suggest that you then need to refit the keeper plate then cut the chassis block and keeper plate with a saw - junior hacksaw, razor saw, jeweller's piercing saw, possibly a Dremel with a cutting disc. One tip would be to cover the motor with some form of tape to avoid the metal swarf from cutting getting into the motor.
Once shortened re-assemble with just 2 of the axles - remembering to use the outer 2 from the original as the middle wheelset is slightly smaller - and modify the pick ups as Brian suggested.
To be honest though I would have a look at the small Japanese chassis as it will be new (as opposed to a minimum 20 year old Minitrix chassis).
Edit: Brian responded as I was typing this. To be honest I'd agree with his assessment that the Meridian kit is not ideal for a beginner. As a better option there may be a 3D printed Ruston available on Shapeways that is designed to fit one of the Japanese chassis, and all that you would need to so with it is fit the chassis to the body, add a suitable driver figure, and apply a suitable paint finish to the result.
Just had a quick look at Shapeways myself. 2A-rail do one to fit the TomyTec HM-01. It's a good chassis, but as to the bodyI don't recall seeing one in the flesh (plastic?) and Shapeways only shows a digital rendering I can't comment on how good, bad or indifferent it is.
I can see the attraction of the model, having a soft spot for small locos for industrial applications, but I can also see this one could be frustrating. Small 4-wheel chassis can be temperamental and need coaxing to work, and converting an old so-so 6-wheel chassis to a very short wheelbase 4-wheel one that works could be very frustrating.
I think it is a old 009 kit-building adage "first buy your chassis and then find a kit to fit it". The Kato 4-wheel tram chassis is inexpensive and there are plenty of body shells to fit it. I think it is a bit bigger, but it has a similar small loco feel, but how about a CW railways Hunslet? https://www.cwrailways.com/009-ng.html (https://www.cwrailways.com/009-ng.html)
There also the Narrow Planet one and others: https://www.cwrailways.com/009-ng.html (https://www.cwrailways.com/009-ng.html)
If you want a really small loco, there are some kits that use the more expensive Kato Portram chassis, e.g. the RT Models Lister: http://www.rtmodels.co.uk/rt_models_012.htm (http://www.rtmodels.co.uk/rt_models_012.htm) The body not expensive at all, but the chassis is more so - though you do get two of them for the price. I've been tempted myself, but I can see that could not bear to hack the lovely model tram for the chassis.
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/23779-okwb-kato-portram-evolves-to-a-lister/ (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/23779-okwb-kato-portram-evolves-to-a-lister/)
Thanks for all the help guys, however I do know Nev from N drive productions (he owes me a favour), so I may ask him for help if I don
Ndrive will not be able to produce a chassis to fit this kit as their components are all too large. I know Neville does a motor bogie but that will not go in there. An Arnold 'Kof' chassis might be a better bet, but will have too long a wheelbase. Meridian are completely reworking this kit to be more accurate and of scale size and will include a chassis with the new kit.
Further to what Julien wrote a while back on small chassis from Japan, have you seen any of Stephen Sullivan's series of articles on them ("Electric Mice") in the 009 Society News Oscar? The latest (part 8 ) was in June's edition.
Quote from: rod335 on July 28, 2018, 22:03
Ndrive will not be able to produce a chassis to fit this kit as their components are all too large. I know Neville does a motor bogie but that will not go in there. An Arnold 'Kof' chassis might be a better bet, but will have too long a wheelbase. Meridian are completely reworking this kit to be more accurate and of scale size and will include a chassis with the new kit.
Oscar, just to confirm that the Arnold Kof II will fit under the Meridian body as I have one that arrived in a mixed lot of 009 I bought on eBay a few years ago. The drawback with the chassis though is that the cab of the N-scale body holds the motor in place so the one I have has a metal strap that does the job - but not too well. I also have another of these chassis under a freelance loco but it's currently not running due to a split plastic gear.
The Arnold Kof III is a better bet as as the motor does not need any of the body to hold it to the chassis.
Coming back to the 'electric mice' the TU-9 chassis may be a better bet for a Ruston as unlike the TU-7 it has a horizontal motor that could be sited under the bonnet and the worm disguised under the Ruston's gearbox.
An alternative route to gtting an 009 Ruston might be to use the TU-9, some castings that I'm sure the Meridian used to do which was a set of Meridian parts (though these might have been those from the full kit) and make the plate work (bonnet sides, cab sheets,etc) from 10 thou plasticard (or thin brass if you wanted to have a go). There should be plenty of drawings for the various types of Ruston out there on the net, and plenty of books on the subject that include scale / dimensioned drawings and there may be one that will match (or be as close as ales any odds) the wheelbase & wheel diameter of the chassis.
I think I
Oscar, there are some Arnold Kof locos on ebay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=arnold+kof&_sacat=0 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=arnold+kof&_sacat=0)
However I'm pretty much with Julien on this.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mini-Size-Motorized-Chassis-TU-9A-Tsugawa-Yokou-14046-N-scale/362400458330?epid=890297652&hash=item5460c0265a:g:2xQAAOSws5pZHUqD (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mini-Size-Motorized-Chassis-TU-9A-Tsugawa-Yokou-14046-N-scale/362400458330?epid=890297652&hash=item5460c0265a:g:2xQAAOSws5pZHUqD)
A modern Japanese chassis is likely to run more sweetly and slowly and sellers such as Plaza Japan or Hobby Search ( https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10459154 ) are well set up for shipping to the UK. Factor in that you will probably have to pay VAT and the Royal Mail fee for collecting it (
Those Tsugawa chassis are not really much good. They are 3volt (I think) so MUST be fitted with a dropper resistor, 150 ohm is enough. The wheelbase is 9mm, 2' 3", for the prototype Ruston it should be about 3' something for this model (27/32hp), they will not really run slowly and the motors have very little torque, so don't expect one to either pull much of a load or tackle gradients of any sort. The 9T uses effectively the same chassis moulding as the 7T, it just has the motor configured differently. The only upside to these things is that they are (relatively) cheap and easily obtainable.
From what Rod has said, if the tsugawa chassis isn
Oscar, I think that really one needs to define what is meant by "good" in this context.
The various Arnold Kof chassis are not bad. One of their good points are that they have a 12 volt motor, which will be more powerful than the smaller motor in the Tsugawa chassis and probably easier to control with the majority of 12volt controllers. On the minus side though is that I'm not sure if they are available new anymore, (making spares hard to get) and second hand they seem to attract
I'm sure many of us have bought loco kits in the hope of finding a chassis. I know I have something languishing somewhere, bought many years ago at an exhibition on a whim, that was designed for a Farish HST bogie. Elsewhere online there was a very nice scratch-built body being sold, not because the builder built it without a chassis, but because the chassis he intended to use failed and he did not have the heart to hack the body to fit a different chassis and was thinking of scrapping it for parts when it was suggested by a friend that someone might buy it.
It is an individual choice on how far away from the kit designer's intentions they wish to go and how much hacking of a chassis or the body they are willing to do. There is also the matter of how far one wishes to stray from the supposed prototype. It is not unheard of for the design of the model to be stretched or squashed in various directions to fit a commercial chassis and then by fitting different chassis the result may be closer to the original or even more of a compromise of a compromise.
I think I
Hi everyone, after careful consideration I